The Dark Underbelly of the American School District

Part 1 of Many

Wow, not sure where to begin with this one. My feelings are so strong, and what I’ve learned about what is happening is so dark. In all the controversy over schools, there is one disturbing secret that no one is talking about. Yet, many families, especially mothers, are spending huge amounts of time and money in an often losing battle with their school district. All they want is for their children to have access to simple interventions that will let their kids access education.

This is how it works. Somewhere along the line you realize your child is struggling in school. You have a kid who is neuro-atypical. That means the neural connections in their brain are just a little different. They have a normal or high IQ, but how they learn doesn’t fit with the old fashioned (i.e. outdated!) methods of teaching that are used in American classrooms.

Your child is not alone. One in five kids has dyslexia. (that’s 20%) Thirty students in a classroom means at least 6 kids with dyslexia. Dysgraphia, we are learning, is probably equally as common but we don’t have the studies yet. We’ll estimate low at 1 in 10 kids have dysgraphia. So now the class room has 3 kids with dysgraphia too. ADHD* is estimated at about 1 in 10. (It may be higher as kids with Inattentive-ADHD often go undiagnosed until adulthood.) So, we’ll add in 3 more kids in the classroom who are neuro-atypical learners. Dyscalculia is much understudied and underdiagnosed with current estimates of 3-8 percent of kids. We’ll call it 5% and thus 1.5 kids in our class. Granted some of these kids will have several diagnosis in one child, but we still haven’t covered various other learning disorders.

Remember, the definition of a learning disorder (which many consider a difference not a disorder) requires that the child have a normal or high IQ. So we’re not talking about children with mental impairments. We are talking about kids who can learn if given the chance. There are known teaching techniques that can reach these kids. There is no need to leave them behind.

Okay, where does that bring us in our classroom of 30 students? At least: 6 kids with dyslexia, 3 kids with dysgraphia, 3 kids with ADHD, 1.5 with dyscalculia, maybe 1 more with a less common learning disorder. That brings us to 14.5 learning differences in a class of 30. We’ll be generous and say that some of those challenges are overlapping in the same kid. Let’s say 10 kids in a class of 30. That’s 33% of the average classroom has a diagnosable, neuro-atypical, way of learning. 33% of the classroom needs accommodation, intervention, or a different approach to learning.

And your kid is one of them. Smart, curious, and unable to access their education or succeed in school.

You will discover 2 problems. First, the way we teach our teachers to teach is based on an outdated understanding of how kids learn and the diversity of learners in every classroom. We’re still using teaching techniques from over a hundred years ago when public education first got going. What and how we educate our teachers to teach is archaic and often based on political fears of the times. So, while we now know that there is huge developmental variation and learning style variation within every classroom, we are still teaching like same age kids are all the same. In other words, teacher education and classroom structure needs to undergo massive revision. One of the greatest road blocks to this is allowing political representatives to make public education policy decisions.

Problem number two. Public schools are charged with making education accessible to all kids including those with learning differences. Yet, they are grossly underfunded.

So, here is where it gets really dark. The solution for your school district is to pay powerful lawyers who will work to “save school districts money.” The school district will also pressure the educational psychologists who work for them to not find and diagnosis kids with learning disorders. It will not be overt pressure, but talk with an educational psychologist who’s worked for the schools. They will tell you how much of a relief it was to leave the schools and go into private practice where they could evaluate and diagnose kids without pressure to minimize findings.

You’re not going to have to simply take my word on all of this. I’m going to bring you case after case after case. The specifics will stun you. The school districts are truly not focused on getting a child what they need to access their education. It’s gonna make you feel a bit sick.

More next week.

*ADHD is technically considered a behavior disorder, but is well known to be a disorder of delayed executive function. Those executive function skills are vital to learning in the old fashioned teaching methods. Thus, legal nomenclature aside, ADHD is absolutely a learning disorder/difference.

I’m working on a book and seeking families with stories to tell. If you’ve been through this struggle, I’d love to hear from you. Everything will, of course, be confidential.

You can reach me at: 241kcawley@gmail.com